June 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. winter natural gas advanced to its highest level in more than seven weeks after Brent crude rose above $120 a barrel for the first time since May 5. Gas for the six months from October climbed as much as 0.65 pence, or 0.9 percent, to 72.9 pence a therm, its highest since April 18, according to broker prices compiled by Bloomberg. It was at 72.4 pence as of 11:25 a.m. in London, equal to $11.78 a million British thermal units. Brent for July settlement gained as much as 0.4 percent to $120.07 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange, its highest since May 5. Oil costs can boost the price of some mainland European gas contracts, affecting the U.K. market because of pipeline links to the continent. U.K. winter baseload power advanced 35 pence to 59.50 pounds a megawatt-hour, broker data show. Baseload is delivered around the clock. National Grid Plc forecast gas demand in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. tomorrow at 215 million cubic meters, 30 million less than normal for the season, according to the pipeline manager’s website. The nation’s pipelines will hold 328 million cubic meters of the fuel at that time, 10 million less than at the start of today. Within-day gas gained 0.6 pence to 59.85 pence a therm. That’s 0.65 pence more than the price for today at 4:30 p.m. yesterday. Power for the next working day rose 55 pence to 51.10 pounds a megawatt-hour. --Editors: Rob Verdonck, Alex Devine To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Farey in London at bfarey@bloomberg.net; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

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